Synopsis

Sakamoto Ryouta is an unemployed 22-year-old who lives with his mother. In the real world, there may be nothing really special about him, but online, he's one of the world's top players of the combat game "BTOOOM"!

One day, he awakes in what appears to be a tropical island, though he has no memory of how or why he has come to be there. While wandering around, Ryouta sees someone and calls out for help. The stranger responds by throwing a bomb at him! Now Ryouta realizes both that his life is in danger, and that he has somehow been trapped in a real-life version of his favorite game! Will Ryouta be able to survive long enough to figure out how and why he ended up here?

Background

Btooom! has been published in English by Yen Press since February 26, 2013; in Italian by Panini Comics under the Planet Manga imprint since September 22, 2012; in German by Tokyopop in 2-in-1 omnibuses since November, 2013; and in Spain and Argentina by Ivrea since January 2014 and July 18, 2014, respectively.

BTOOOM! is a story about Sakamoto Ryuuta, a 22 year old unemployed person who lives with his mother and plays video games online everyday. Although nothing special in real life, he is a world ranked player of the video game BTOOOM! One day however, he awakes in a tropical island with a case containing what appears to be bombs with no memory of how he got there. .He realises that he is in a real life version of the video game BTOOOM! and he must survive long enough in the Battle Royale-esque battle.

That's a basic summary of the plot. Our main character, Sakamoto, isn't your
typical manga protagonist who is born to fight, able to battle and kill with no qualms. He is a man with a conscience and even in the kill-or-be-killed environment of the tropical island, he still finds it difficult to just kill others and in the few cases in which he does so he is filled with regret (and even in these situations he only did it because he had no other option). He is, in my opinion, an interesting protagonist and a refreshing break from some of the other protagonists in manga who seem to be slightly unrealistic in their approach to situations.

I'm not going to write too much about the story because as of the time of writing it simply chronicles Sakamoto's attempt to survive and escape the island. That's not to say it's bad though; indeed, so far the action has been intense and satisfying.The art is also quite good, but nothing exceptional. However, it is nice to look at and it certainly manages to capture the feel of the story in it.

Overall, it's an enjoyable manga that I recommend you to read. If you enjoyed Battle Royale or seinen works like Gantz, I recommend you check this series out.

*Review Updated
Btooom! is one of those relatively not-well-known manga. Most people would probably not be interested in this manga just by seeing its cover page, which is in the format of a video game case. I know I almost did. Nevertheless, this manga has amazing plotline, characters, and artwork. If you would want to see what happens when a gamer-shut-in is thrown into a merciless game where a bunch of people hated by the society use bombs to kill each other, and this survival game just happens to be the same as the one he always plays. Furthermore, he meets a busty teenage girl who
just happens to fall for him. Together, they must use every inch of their cunning to avoid being killed by other participants. Yep. By combining all these different elements, you get btooom!

Story: 8
The story is refreshing and full of mystery. There are a lot of plot twists and the reader will never know what will come next. This manga is narrated solely from Ryuuta's view (the protagonist). We slowly discover the mystery to this cruel survival game as Ryuuta learns more. This creates a sense of anticipation and makes this manga enjoyable. Furthermore, one thing that this manga excel at is the use of back stories, for both main and supporting characters. These back stories are flashbacks that explain why the characters act the way they do. However, they are not as fully fleshed out as I would like.

Despite the amazing start, this manga, through its slow updates, is slowly degenerating to the realm of mediocrity. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but we will see how it plays out.

Art: 8
I am not much of an art person, but suffice to say that I find the art in btooom! well done.

Character: 8
The most notable aspect of character portrayal in btooom! is realism. This is evidently seen in our protagonist, Ryuuta. Although he is a neet, an anti-social, and has anger management problems, he also possess incredible compassion to help others, an observant and calculating brain that enables him to survive, and a strong sense of morals. This manga is not only told in his perspective, but we can also hear his complex thoughts on every page. This is what made this manga really interesting.

Enjoyment: 9
As you can see, I enjoyed this manga a lot :D I definitely recommend it.

Overall: 8
Btooom! Is a refreshing survival game manga that deals in various genres, such as mystery, action, psychological, romance, ecchi, and seinen. Some would like to claim that it is a rip-off of battle royal, but personally I don't see why that should even matter.

Here is to wishing that future chapter releases would continue to keep up the good work.

Btoom! may have taken some ideas from Battle Royale in the sense that it's about a few people being transported into an island where the contestants have to kill each other to survive, however it is slightly different becaus the rules set are the same as those found in the popular online game Btoom.

Personally, I don't think it's a rip-off of Battle Royale because it is quite different. Battle Royale is still greater because it is more emotional and it is not ecchi, however Btoom! is a decent manga and deals pretty well with the problems dealt with the characters. Characterization is good so far,
but we'll see whether we'll find more interesting characters.

I find that the main protagonist is annoyingly perfect the sense that he's not obese and a loser despite the fact that he's only interested in online games and is terribly smart, however I suppose that's probably what the mangaka aspires to be.

The manga is mostly about survival and action.
It's a manga that I enjoy and still waiting to get to the next chapter.
The idea is that people are being sent to play a real-life game called BTOOOM! In which people really kill and die. I think it's good because the plot in where people get transferred into a game is getting mainstream. This one is real, and the weapons are logical.
I've always liked a survival manga like this. It also gives out some strategies on how to deal with the enemies, which is good.
The manga also holds some good meanings inside it. Which I think-- is
the most important thing of a manga.